Hong Kong: Inflation declines further in February
Inflation fell from 2.4% in January to 2.1% in February. When accounting for the effects of one-off government relief measures, inflation declined to 2.6% in February, down from 3.0% in January. The figure mostly reflected a softer increase in the prices of meals bought away from home and package tours. Meanwhile, annual average inflation ticked down from 2.5% in January to 2.4% in February.
For the December–February period, the average of the month-on-month variation in consumer prices was 0.2% in seasonally-adjusted terms, up from 0.1% in the three-month period from November to January.
Regarding the inflation outlook, a government spokesperson noted that:
“Looking ahead, the upside risks to inflation should remain contained. The earlier moderation in fresh-letting residential rentals could have a mitigating effect in the period ahead, and external price pressures have also stayed moderate recently”.